MTV, an American based network, was originally launched to play music videos. Today, they have a huge moral influence on young people. Recently, programmes have been launched that deal with the controversial issue of HIV and AIDS. It has received a magnificent response and changed the attitudes of a multitude of young people.

MTV uses television dramas to convey messages about HIV/AIDS and the risks involved, from having unsafe sex, multiple partners, drug use, and also giving information on testing and treatment, and changing the stigma. Researchers who studied the effects of the program found that it had a significant effect on the thought patterns (surrounding HIV) on its viewers. They now want to make the programme available to more countries in the hope that the positive thinking will catch on.


"The results have shown a really positive change in terms of attitudes, knowledge and the sense among young people that they understand the risks and can take action to address them," said Susan Kasedde, a specialist in HIV prevention among adolescents at UNICEF, the U.N. children's fund that backed the project. In 1998, they launched a campaign called MTV “Staying Alive” and they have produced films, competitions and much more, to educate young people about HIV and AIDS and encourage them to talk about it.


A study showed that 67% of people infected with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa. Young Africans are trying to revolutionize the AIDS epidemic by choosing to have safer sex and fewer sexual partners. Executive of MTV, Bill Roedy, said that he hopes the rest of the world will catch onto this positive movement towards safer sex.

Part of the series was called “Shuga”, aired in Kenya for the first time in 2009. The show was described as “hard-hitting drama series about the reckless sex lives of young Kenyans and their partners”. Studies conducted by a scientist from a University in the United States confirmed that the programmes were watched by a very high percentage of the target audience (people aged 16 to 24 years), and young people also understood the message that MTV was trying to convey.


Eighty percent of the viewers that watched “Shuga” believed that the programme changed their thinking about issues such as multiple sexual partners, HIV testing and the stigma attaches to the disease. “These results make us determined and completely committed to continuing our campaigns globally," Roedy said.

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